Buy the rainforest!
As part of my fellowship at MIT, I got a chance today to hang out with Edward O. Wilson, the scientist publicly known as the founder of sociobiology. But he's also the world-wide expert in ants, and has become increasingly interested in biodiversity. He is thus, understandably, totally freaked about the extinction of species worldwide.
And I'm not talking just about bald eagles -- I'm talking about bacteria, of which there are gazillions of species, most of them whose function we barely know, but whom we figure are pretty essential to life. Historically, biologists figure, one species per million species has become extinct each year. New species have emerged at roughly the same rate, so biodiversity has until now been pretty much preserved. But with global deforestation so rampant, we're now killing 100 species per million each year. And that's a very conservative estimate. Many environmentalists -- Wilson included -- figure it's way the heck worse: More like 10,000 species per year.
But there's an interesting new solution to this (which Wilson writes about in his new book The Future of Life. ).
Deforestation is a result of huge logging companies going into developing countries and buying up logging rights; because the countries are so poor, they're understandably happy to get money from anywhere. And it used to be that environmentalists figured the multi-billion-dollar forestry industry was fated always to win, because they have, well, multi-billions of dollars. You can't fight that, right?
Actually, you can. "It turns out that those logging companies operate on incredibly slim margins," Wilson told me. "So it's pretty easy to outbid them." Forestry is a volume business -- the price they fetch for the lumber isn't much more than the cost of cutting it down. So the companies will go in to a country like Suriname and offer them $5 million for logging rights in an area. Environmental organizations -- like Conservation International -- started going in and offering $6 million. And it turns out those massive logging companies can't afford the extra million. Their profit is already so slender, they have to walk away. Presto: The logging rights belong to environmentalists.
"We sat down one day and figured out how much it would cost do to the same with all the 25 'hotspots' in the world -- the places where the forest has about 44 per cent of all plant species on the planet," he says. "It's $28 billion. That's a one-time cost. That's totally doable. It wouldn't cripple the global economy. The global economy would barely notice."
Jesus, sign me up. I'm going to go out and buy some rainforest.
Posted by Clive Thompson at November 13, 2002 11:20 PM
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I'm really interested in helping out ,even if I can only buy a little of the rainforest. I'd like to my part in saving the rainforest and our earth
Posted by: Layla at March 16, 2003 1:11 AM
You can go to Conservation International and grab some right now!
Posted by: Clive at March 16, 2003 2:43 PM
I have just come back from the Puruvian rainforest and there is a brilliant piece of rainforest that needs to be bought next to Manu Reserve....who wants to help me?
Posted by: Fiona at August 31, 2003 12:35 PM
im a teenage who doesn't know jack about business or politics but i want to like put together a team internationally and set our eyes on peace of land that we want to save and raise money to save and then possibly branching out to do other things to help the rainforest. ANYONE interested please email me at: masterbassterincubator@yahoo.com
Posted by: marcus at September 14, 2003 12:31 AM
My friend kirsten and i are trying to get donations to buy a piece of the rainforest and preserve it. But, we do not know who to contact in order to purchase a piece. can anyone help? please email me at ssdmbug21@hotmail.com
Posted by: Samantha at November 25, 2003 1:11 PM
How much money do you think an average rain forest is per acer? If you know E-mail me!
Posted by: Maxwell at January 6, 2004 4:38 PM
I'm really interested in helping out ,even if I can only buy a little of the rainforest. I'd like to my part in saving the rainforest and our earth
Posted by: mobikool at January 8, 2004 9:07 AM
Posted by: Online Casino at January 16, 2004 2:46 AM
My friend and I are trying to start an organization called EARS, or Endangered Animal Rescue Society. But we are having trouble getting started. We would like to buy a portion of the rainforest to save the animal inhabitants from loss of habitat. If anyone knows how we could do this please contact me at lilmacsatt@earthlink.net or my friend at dandylionb@aol.com
Thank you
Posted by: Courtney at January 17, 2004 12:08 PM
Posted by: julia at January 24, 2004 8:16 PM
Hi
Can someone send me an actual adress of an organisation where one can buy a piece of the rainforest, in order to preserve it? Our earth, and the future generations living on it, deserve a better future than the one we're annihilating right now.
peterverlaak@hotmail.com
Thanks
Posted by: Piotr V. at February 11, 2004 2:18 PM
Posted by: campporno at December 21, 2004 9:29 AM
I'm really interested in helping out ,even if I can only buy a little of the rainforest. I'd like to my part in saving the rainforest and our earth
Posted by: Layla at March 16, 2003 1:11 AM
You can go to Conservation International and grab some right now!
Posted by: Clive at March 16, 2003 2:43 PM
I have just come back from the Puruvian rainforest and there is a brilliant piece of rainforest that needs to be bought next to Manu Reserve....who wants to help me?
Posted by: Fiona at August 31, 2003 12:35 PM
im a teenage who doesn't know jack about business or politics but i want to like put together a team internationally and set our eyes on peace of land that we want to save and raise money to save and then possibly branching out to do other things to help the rainforest. ANYONE interested please email me at: masterbassterincubator@yahoo.com
Posted by: marcus at September 14, 2003 12:31 AM
My friend kirsten and i are trying to get donations to buy a piece of the rainforest and preserve it. But, we do not know who to contact in order to purchase a piece. can anyone help? please email me at ssdmbug21@hotmail.com
Posted by: Samantha at November 25, 2003 1:11 PM
How much money do you think an average rain forest is per acer? If you know E-mail me!
Posted by: Maxwell at January 6, 2004 4:38 PM
I'm really interested in helping out ,even if I can only buy a little of the rainforest. I'd like to my part in saving the rainforest and our earth
Posted by: mobikool at January 8, 2004 9:07 AM
Nice site. thx.
Posted by: Online Casino at January 16, 2004 2:46 AM
My friend and I are trying to start an organization called EARS, or Endangered Animal Rescue Society. But we are having trouble getting started. We would like to buy a portion of the rainforest to save the animal inhabitants from loss of habitat. If anyone knows how we could do this please contact me at lilmacsatt@earthlink.net or my friend at dandylionb@aol.com
Thank you
Posted by: Courtney at January 17, 2004 12:08 PM
Posted by: julia at January 24, 2004 8:16 PM
Hi
Can someone send me an actual adress of an organisation where one can buy a piece of the rainforest, in order to preserve it? Our earth, and the future generations living on it, deserve a better future than the one we're annihilating right now.
peterverlaak@hotmail.com
Thanks
Posted by: Piotr V. at February 11, 2004 2:18 PM
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